Text type:
Fiction

Guided Reading
M

Word Count:
579

Text Summary
Story of the Sun is a folktale-style story about a young boy and his search for answers. He wonders where the sun comes from each morning and where it goes each night. A wise woman helps him find the answers to his questions. Readers will enjoy the beautiful illustrations that accompany the text.

Reader Supports
One-to-one picture support
Simple setting and description on each page
Familiar sentence structure

Reader Challenges
Descriptive and colorful adjectives on every page

Lesson Objectives
Reading Strategies

Comprehension

Vocabulary Words
High Utility Words:
boy, sun, land, warmth, knew, worry, worried

Content words:
curious, mountains, east, west, wondered, confused, village, villagers, emu, rumble, fireball

Before Reading

Introducing the Book

Building Background
Talk about other traditional folktales you have read or heard of (Example: How Zebras Got Their Stripes) Ask: What are some common elements of folktales? (Native people questioning scientific phenomena, animals talking, wise people explaining answers by telling a story or helping to solve a problem.)

Ask students if they have heard any stories about the sun. Have them share the stories. Ask them what they know about the sun. Ask: What do you think a story of the sun could be about based on what you know about the sun?

Picture Walk
Invite the students to thumb through the pages of the book. After they have had time to do so, ask them what they think the story will be about. Ask them if there are any words they see that are difficult. Write those words on the board and discuss them before beginning the reading.

Worksheet 1
Discuss the meaning of an inference. (to surmise, draw conclusions, and get ideas about something based on what someone sees, hears, or reads.) Explain that you infer based on information you read or things you observe. For example, when a parent grabs car keys and puts on a jacket, you infer he or she is going somewhere. Tell students as they read the story to think about what they are reading and to write down on the worksheet those sentences that cause them to infer and what it is they infer. For example, when they read the words "long ago" and "curious young boy" on the first page of the story, they might infer that the story is a tale about something handed down and that the story will be about a boy who seeks answers to something he is curious about.

During Reading

Student Reading
Give each student a book to read. Instruct students to read aloud beginning with the cover. Allow them to read at their own pace. Tell students to point to each word as they read. Monitor their reading and provide prompts as needed. For example, if students pause on a word, suggest that they try to sound out the first letter and then subsequent letters or to look at the picture for clues.

Remind students to look for sentences that they can use to make inferences and to write them into their worksheets.

Think aloud:
When I read on page 5 the sentences "Ichiro wondered where the sun came from. And he wondered where it went at night," I infer or surmise that the story is going to be about Ichiro wondering where the sun comes from. I can write these things in my worksheet.

After Reading

Reading Strategies
Discuss any reading strategies students used to help them read. Ask questions such as:
How did the pictures help you read the words? What did you do when you came to a word you could not read?
Have students complete worksheet #1 and discuss different inferences made as they read the story.

Comprehending the Text
Use the following questions to check students’ understanding of the text they just read.
What was the book about? Tell me in one or two sentences. (summarizing)
Page 2: Name two qualities that describe the boy.
Page 3: From which direction did the sun rise?
Page 6: What does Ichiro know about the sun?
Page 7: What does Ichiro want to know?
Pages 7-8: Name two qualities that describe the woman. In what direction did she live?

Think Aloud
The woman is old and wise. She lives far away in the mountains near where the sun rose each morning, so that must mean she lived east of where the boy lived.
Page 9: What is an emu?
Page 14: What is the giant fireball that the woman speaks of?

Building Skills

Word Work
Compound words
Write the story words fireball, without, mountaintop, and everything on the board. Ask: What do these words have in common? (they are compound words) Talk about what compound words are. Take time to analyze fireball. Ask: What do you think it means? Do the same with the other compound words. Ask: What compound words can you make using the word sun? (sunset, sunrise, sunshine, sunburn, sunspot, sunscreen, etc.) Discuss the meaning of each.

Homophones
Students will understand that homophones are identical in pronunciation but different in spelling and meaning. Sun and son are examples of homophones. So are our and hour, night and knight, sea and see, and piece and peace. At least one of each pair appears in the story.

Worksheet 2 / Skills
Have students complete the worksheet on compound words.

Expand on the Reading

Writing Connection
Have students brainstorm ideas on a book called Story of the Moon or Story of the Stars. Prompt them with ideas and possibilities (such as adding colorful details about a far-off land, or naming their characters with exotic sounding made-up names). Encourage students to think about it overnight or for a few days and perhaps talk to their parents about it. Then you can either have students write a short version of their story or write an interactive story with the class by having students dictate it to you. And don’t forget the illustrations!

Art Connection
Have students color in the pictures after they have done the reading and writing exercises. Pay attention to consistency between pages. Use page 6 as an example to introduce the coloring activity. Reread the text on that page and note the words light, warm, and warmth. Suggest using warm colors for the drawing. Display a color wheel and point out the warm colors of the spectrum (yellows, oranges, reds). Demonstrate how coloring with warm colors gives the viewer an impression of warmth.

Reading Independently
Allow children to continue reading the book independently or with a partner. Have partners read the narrator’s part and various speaking parts of the story.

Home Connection

Assessment